


Direct Stimulus

by Lilbug121



Category: Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 22:30:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6726028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilbug121/pseuds/Lilbug121
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Egon and Ray test the mood slime's reaction to various positive stimuli.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Direct Stimulus

It was almost too easy to give the slime a negative charge.

Based on their prior observations it was easy to confirm; shouting around it worked remarkably well. Shouting directly at it even better, which seemed to imply it had at least some rudimentary degree of awareness. It even seemed to be able to tell insults apart from neutral statements said with the same tone.

Getting a positive reaction from the slime was another story.

Which isn’t to say it wasn’t happening. When then slime was left to it’s own devices nearby as Ray and Egon worked it fizzed and popped gently, taking on an almost carbonated appearance as opposed to the angry boiling look it had when they shouted at it; likely it was reacting to the fact that both men were buzzing with excitement in their own ways, glad to be with one another and back to the work they truly loved. Both had almost forgotten how nice the incidental touches of working close together were, having not shared a lab in some time. They frequently shared intentional touches of course, but this was different. It just felt so right when their gloved fingers brushed by each other, knowing they could again share in the excitement of creation and discovery. But the slime's reaction seemed so small compared to what they could get from a good shouting match, and it seemed too unlikely (and pessimistic) to assume that positivity just wasn’t as strong.

They simply needed a more direct stimulus.

“Well, being shouted at would make just about anyone upset,” Ray pondered. “But there’s no real universal thing that makes everyone happy. So maybe we just haven’t figured out what the slime likes yet?”

Egon thought about this for a moment. “It is starting to appear as though the slime has some awareness. I do wonder if that extends to the ability to have preferences…”

“Well, there’s one way to find out”.

The two decided together on a list of tests to perform, of things that they, or a reasonably large number of people, enjoyed, to see what would get a reaction out of the slime. Once they isolated some of it’s “preferences”, they could perform more tests to see just how specific it could get.

The first thing they tested was reading to it. They quickly found that the slime reacted very mildly when Ray read from the dry book Egon had chosen, but his comic books earned them a noticeably more energetic reaction, cementing their hypothesis that the slime was aware enough to have preferences. It didn’t just like his voice or his tone, but the actual words he was saying, or perhaps just his feeling towards the words. The slime also seemed to particularly enjoy music, giving them it’s most visceral reaction yet, and both men were eager to test that further-would it prefer specific genres, maybe even specific artists? But that would have to wait. They were just doing preliminary testing as of now, and they had a list to stick to.

Ray and Egon hardly noticed the time passing as they performed their list of tests, caught up in the excitement of finally working together again, and finally being able to return to their true passion. Ray was only shaken from his engrossed state when he noted there was only one test left on the list they had made together, and couldn’t help himself from blushing. He almost wanted to debate putting this on the list in the first place, but he knew he’d end up convincing himself. He was a scientist, after all, and this test had too many merits to pass up.

Sex.

Of course they had to test it’s reaction to sex. While he had been right in saying there’s no real universal experience that would make everyone happy, not even sex, it is about as close as they could get.

Egon hummed thoughtfully, pondering just how to perform this test. “My first thought would be to expose it to pornographic material. But neither you nor I keep any, and at this late hour I doubt it would be easy to find. We could postpone the testing but I’d rather get the preliminary stage out of the way as quickly as possible.”

Ray agreed. Even with his lingering embarrassment he was still incredibly excited to be working on this sort of thing again, and he really didn’t want to stop just yet. He knew if he did it would still be waiting for him and Egon in the morning, but he didn’t want to wait that long if he could help it, not till he was tired enough that it interfered with their work. Not to mention all of this had been bringing back such fond memories, not only of their first run as Ghostbusters but even some tests they ran during their college days. Experimenting in more ways than one…

Ray shook the thoughts from his head. Now was not the time to be remembering their more…intimate moments, not when there was so much work to be done.

…Or perhaps, given their current predicament, it was the best time for such thoughts.

“You know Egon, I’m not so sure porn would even work. This stuff reacts to the mood around it, and porn isn’t exactly the most intimate or loving thing. Especially being on a screen. To get the best results we’d probably need something a little more…real.” Ray crept his hand closer to Egon’s as he talked, slowly weaving their fingers together.

Egon’s expression didn’t change as he looked up from the slime to meet Ray’s eyes, but his blush revealed his understanding of Ray’s implications. He moved forward to bridge some of the gap between his and Ray’s bodies, suddenly aware of just how warm the other man felt.

“I believe you’re right Ray. If the slime were to react to sex, we’d likely get the best reaction from something taking place…on site. Preferably between a loving couple”.

Ray smiled, and pulled Egon toward him the rest of the way, their chests now pressed together. “Now, where are we gonna find volunteers like that?” he purred, running his fingers through Egon's hair.

Egon gave a small smile himself, leaning in closer, his face inches from his partner's. “Oh, I believe I have an idea…” he answered softly, voice thick, and finally he closed the last tiny agonizing space between their bodies and brought their lips together.

The two men hardly noticed the slime as it began to fizz and bubble out of it's container.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write porn but then it ran away from me and got all sappy instead.


End file.
